The Return of the Dragon Riders, The last chapters
by Ocadioan
Summary: This is the last 11 chapters of The fellowship of the egg trilogy, meaning that you have to have read those before reading this. The fellowship of the egg was written pre-Brisingr, but the author stopped it halfway trough the last part.Update every 2 days
1. Chapter 10 The Party

**Eragon's POV:  
><strong>The party had been underway for half an hour when Eragon walked in with the Linnëa-staff in his right hand.

Saphira had not been able to enter the room, so she had just flown off with Mor'Khemir and told Eragon that he should try to have a good time.

Eragon spent most of the evening exchanging pleasantries with nobles and other people of importance, but although he constantly seemed to enjoy the company on the outside, he merely wished that they would leave him alone, so that he could spend some time talking with Linnëa.

He could hear Linnëa chuckle in his head and say to him that he really should try and pay attention to the party, as many of them would probably not be alive after the battle.

Eragon only stated, "as you wish", but only half an hour later he sat alone at a table with the Linnëa-staff on his lap and slowly stroked it while enjoying basking in Linnëa' mind.

He was only pulled out from his connection with Linnëa, when Pippin waved a hand in front of him with a worried look on his face.

"Master are you alright?", Pippin asked.

"Yes I am fine, but I think that I might need to retire soon", Eragon answered his worried pupil with a small smile and a voice that sounded like it came from far away.

Eragon could see that Pippin believed him to be drunk, although Eragon had not even touched any drinks that night, so Pippin made a move to help his master out of the chair, but Eragon just wavered his hand at Pippin and told him, "I am fine. I do not need assistance, but have a pleasant evening".

Eragon could feel Pippin following behind him, prepared to help if needed, but not so close that it seemed rude.

**Arya's POV(starts in the middle of the party)  
><strong>Arya was in the middle of the party, with Legolas at her side and his father in front of her. She had quite enjoyed meeting the elves from Middle-Earth. She got the feeling that they had been most happy hearing that Legolas had finally found a mate.

She would now and again catch a look of Eragon, to see how he was doing. She thought that he looked like he was enjoying the party, but when she looked at his eyes; they told her that he was actually getting quite annoyed at the many introductions and meaningless pleasantries.

Amused she chuckled to herself and whispered into Legolas' ear, " I believe that Eragon might snap if people continue to constantly make introductions and other pleasantries to him all night".

"Should we tell my father? Perhaps he could make them stop", Legolas whispered back into her ear.

"Well, either that or we draw attention to ourselves, so they forget about him", she whispered back with a slight joy in her voice.

"You don't mean that we should tell them all now do you?", Legolas said a little louder than he meant to and with nervous eyes watching her.

"Why not they will find out soon", she said looking at him with a smile. Then she did something unexpected, as she took a glass and gently tapped at it to get everyone's attention, while she heaved Legolas and herself up on a small table.

Everyone looked at her and with a mental message she said to Eragon, _You might want to use this to disappear out of sight before the nobles return their attention to you_.

Eragon sent her a short nod, before she saw him disappear out into a corner.

"Legolas and I have an announcement to make", she said to the assembled crowd. "Legolas and I are to be married the day after tomorrow".

A large applaud came roaring in from the crowd and Legolas and Arya spent the next hour receiving congratulations from all of the assembled.

While receiving the congratulations Arya thought about what she had seen in Eragon's eyes or rather what she had not seen. Despite only seeing his eyes for half a second, she was quite sure that there had not been the same pain in them as there had ever since he had found out about her and Legolas, but she could not be sure and she was afraid to look him in the eyes after having just revealed that she and Legolas where to be married.

She had also spotted something else in the evening which puzzled her even further, she had caught Eragon looking at his wooden staff and chuckled, although no one had said anything funny to him, and what appeared stranger was that Eragon sometimes had a special look in his eyes when he looked at the staff. The look reminded Arya about back before Legolas when he looked at her with that same look, but she quickly chuckled to herself and cast that idea away. After all, Eragon could not be in love with a wooden staff. It must have been her pregnancy playing tricks on her.

**Eragon's POV**

Eragon had left the party about 3 hours ago and had almost been forced to order Pippin to stop worrying about him and get back to the party. Eragon had in the meantime tried and failed several ways of releasing Linnëa from her prison.

_Do not worry such_, Linnëa's soft voice said in his head.

_I just wish that I could release you, but I fear that I won't make it before the battle_, Eragon answered tiredly.

_Well, there is one other way, but it will require a large sacrifice on your part_, Linnëa said cautiously.


	2. Chapter 11 A walk in Aberon

**Pippin's POV:  
><strong>Pippin and his friends, Merry, Frodo, Sam and Sméagol were walking around Aberon in the early morning hours.

Pippin quite enjoyed walking and talking with his friends, although none of them, except Merry, had acted like they used to when around him. This bothered Pippin quite a lot because he felt like he was losing his friends, but this morning they all seemed to forget that Pippin was a dragon rider.

As they walked around Aberon, they spotted Gandalf sitting along with a female in a blue robe, who could be no more than in her late twenties or early thirties. The group quickly decided to go visit the two, especially because they had never known Gandalf to socialize with any people from Alagaësia.

As they neared the two, Pippin started to notice that the woman looked kind of like Angela, but he had never seen her in a blue robe before, and he was not quite sure why she would be speaking with Gandalf.

"Hail little Hobbits", Angela suddenly shouted and turned around, "what brings you up so early on this day?"

"Well we were just taking a stroll, when we noticed the two of you sitting here and we became curious", Frodo said to Angela.

"So you were spying on us?", Gandalf asked with a stern look that made the hobbits look down in shame, but after exchanging a glance with Angela he broke into laughter.

"Well if you must know, then me and Olórin go way back, almost to the beginning," Angela said, but as she looked on their confused faces, she said, "Olórin is Gandalf's original name".

"But you can't be more than thirty", a shy Sam called out.

"Oh, I am quite older than thirty", Angela said with a small smile on her lips, "in fact I am part of the blue wizards, which journeyed east never to return".

With that statement she gave a quick nod to Gandalf and almost danced away, leaving the hobbits rather mystified, and shortly after Gandalf took his leave as well.

The hobbits laughed at this and walked around a corner, where they found two large cats sleeping on a chair. Pippin and Merry started going towards the cats to pet them, but just when they where halfway there, a voice sounded in their heads. _Why do you approach?_

Pippin and Merry both looked around them for the source of the voice, but then the voice said again, _Down here_.

Pippin looked at the two cats and tried reaching out with his mind towards them, but when he did he felt a being that was not like any cat he had ever faced, and Pippin noticed that the cats were looking at him with very intense eyes.

_Do we look like ordinary cats,_ the voice asked in a insulted tone, _We are werecats_.

"We have never heard of werecats before. We are not from this land", Merry answered.

_Alright, but let me give you this piece of advice before you go. When people close to you die, their memory might still keep them alive._ And with that said the cat looked down from Pippin and went back to sleep.

Pippin thought about the werecat's "advice" for a moment, but shrugged it off as he had no idea of what the werecat meant.

"What does he mean with, when people close to you die, their memory might still keep them alive. It sounds like he knows that people close to us will die?", Merry asked confused.

Just then Pippin remembered, how Eragon had looked concerned for a second, the last time Pippin had asked him whether anyone was going to die in the fight, and he felt like Eragon must have known who it was, but his master must have had a good reason to hide it. Pippin quickly decided that he had to ask Eragon about this again at a later time.

**Time skip to evening**

Pippin walked alone towards his master' study, he felt like every step he took brought him further away from his friends, but he knew that he had to know what Eragon would not tell him.

On his way to Eragon's study, Pippin had encountered Aragorn and Arwen whispering into the others ear, but Pippin had made sure that they did not notice him. When Pippin finally arrived at Eragon's study, he could see the light under the door, but when he knocked there was no answer.

Pippin knocked three times more before he decided to try and reach Eragon with his mind, but when he reached what he suspected to be Eragon's body, he only got a blurred image of the mind of his master.

Pippin did not understand why his master's mind was in such condition, but he had feeling about what might be the cause of it. _Master are you alright and can we talk for a minute?_, Pippin spoke from his mind, but when Eragon answered, it did not feel like his usual self and he somehow felt weaker, _I am not feeling well today Pippin. Perhaps we can talk at the wedding or the day after_.

Pippin knew it would be improper to intrude on his master, but he had to check that he was alright, so he climbed the wall on the other side of the study.

When Pippin reached the window, he saw his master sitting in his chair while waving a hand in front of his head as he studied it with a silly grin on his face. Pippin was now sure, what the cause of his Master's illness was and he knew it would be over in the morning, so he decided to climb down and go to bed.

Hi everyone, I will include the name of everyone, that guesses Eragon' "illness", in chapter 19. I have already begun giving clues to what is happening, but more will come in later chapters.  
><span>REMEMBER only to pm your guess to me as I do not want the fun spoiled for others.<span>


	3. Chapter 12 The wedding

**Nasuada's POV  
><strong>Arya and Legolas' wedding ceremony had finished a little while ago and people were pouring into the party. Nasuada had chosen to wear her finest dress for the occasion and had escaped her nighthawkguards a little while ago. She quickly went up and congratulated Arya and Legolas on their wedding and presented her gift to the couple.

The gift was some of her finest jewellery; one necklace in particular had a gold core with patterns of silver surrounding the gold, at the middle there was a green emerald which was shaped like a hand with two fingers pointing up. The hand showed the elven greeting and had been handcrafted by the dwarfs.

Nasuada spotted Eragon in the crowd and went to talk to him.

"Hello Eragon are you enjoying yourself?", Nasuada asked him, but when he turned to answer she noticed that his movements were a bit stiff, and when she looked into his eyes, they did not seem to contend the same glow that she had always admired about him.

"The party is quite fine my lady", Eragon answered, but as Nasuada heard his voice it sounded just a little bit off.

"Eragon are you alright? You do not sound like yourself and frankly you don't look quite like yourself", Nasuada asked with a worried voice.

"I have changed?", Eragon asked and lifted his arms in a stiff manner and studied them closely.

Nasuada could see that Eragon was not himself, but she knew she could not get any more out of him, so she decided to say farewell to him.

As Nasuada walked away, she often looked over her shoulder where she could see Eragon inspect his body and laughed quietly to himself. Nasuada quickly decided to keep a watch on Eragon during the party.

As the party went on, Nasuada caught Eragon chuckling to himself several times, although none were near him. She later saw him stroll along a table when one of his legs suddenly stopped moving and he had to grab onto the table so that he did not fall.

After seeing this Nasuada decided to visit Eragon's foster brother Orik and ask him to take care of Eragon. She later found Orik in a corner discussing with Gimli, and asked if she could borrow Orik for a moment.

"So what do you want to talk about?", Orik asked Nasuada.

"Have you noticed Eragon lately?", Nasuada asked in a concerned voice, while simultaneously studying Orik's face for a reaction.

"No I have not seen him since the party for the Middle-Earthians two days ago, why?", Orik asked, while he scanned the party for his foster brother.

"Well, it is just that he has been acting strangely at this party, and when I talk to him, he sounds a little different than usual. He chuckles even when no one is around, he moves stiffly and it looks like he is about fall on several occasions", Nasuada told Orik.

"Nasuada what do you know about Eragon's love interest?", Orik bluntly asked .

Nasuada was caught completely offguard, and after thinking for a little while had to admit that she had not thought about it until now.

"The thing is", Orik said in a low voice so that no one might hear him, "Eragon was in love with Arya almost from the time that he met her, and as he got to know her more his affection only increased".

"So, that means", Nasuada said while looking at Eragon.

"Aye," Orik said in a sad voice, " seeing her with Legolas in Ellesméra must have been hard enough for him, but imagine having to not only hear about her pregnancy with Legolas, but also having to attend at their wedding. It is no wonder he is not himself tonight."

Nasuada could only imagine how much pain Eragon had to be in, and as she thought about this, another reason for Eragon's odd behaviour occurred.

"Well, I think we need to go talk to him, but it should wait until tomorrow, because I do not believe Eragon is in a condition to talk sensibly", Nasuada said to Orik.

"I believe that you are right about both talking to him and that it might not be wise to do it before morning", Orik said and nodded.

As Nasuada left the party, she thought about how to talk to Eragon. She needed him to have a clear head for the battle that was soon to come, and this event might have caused a deathwish to appear in him.

**Pippin's POV – time skip to early in the party  
><strong>Pippin had talked quite a bit with the party attendants that evening, and was having a great time. He absolutely loved weddings, but at the same time it reminded him that he could never take a mortal wife and since he was the only immortal hobbit, he might never have a wedding of his own.

Downed by these thoughts he sought out the only person, which he knew would understand his problems, but as he neared his master he noticed that Eragon was walking much stiffer than he usually would.

"Master, I wish to speak with you for a moment", Pippin said.

As Eragon turned around to face his pupil, he almost fell and was only stopped by grabbing unto a pillar that stood nearby.

"What do you wish to talk about Pippin?", Eragon asked, but as Pippin heard him he felt like the voice was kind of off, but decided not to mention it.

"Master, it is just that seeing this wedding reminds me of what I can never have myself, and I wanted to know what I should do about this sad feeling that I am having," Pippin said as he looked into Eragon's eyes and hoped for an answer.

"Pippin, you must remember that you are yet very young, even by your own people's standards, and when we defeat Galbatorix we shall restore the dragon riders in both Alagaësia and Middle Earth. That said, it might still take a long time before another hobbit is chosen as a rider, and even longer before you find one that you like, but at least there is still a chance of that happening", Eragon said looking into Pippin's eyes, but as he did so, Pippin noticed that the usual glow in his eyes were gone.

With that answer Pippin slipped back into the party, but he did not leave Eragon out of his sight throughout the party.

Pippin noticed several odd things about his master, the most obvious being his apparent lack of control over his body, but also smaller things like chuckling to himself and occasionally studying his hands and feet when they did something unexpected. Pippin decided that he might know the reason for Eragon's symptoms, but he wanted to know why he had caught him three nights in row now, so he decided to seek out one of Eragon's most trusted friends, Arya.

"Greetings Arya", Pippin said humbly," may I have a word alone with you?"

"You may", Arya answered.

After getting out of earshot from the partygoers, Pippin quickly described what he had noticed about Eragon's behaviour and his findings the previous days.

Arya looked at Pippin with understanding eyes and told him that she too had noticed Eragon's off behaviour at the party and after that she decided to share a bit of information, which startled Pippin.

"So you are saying, that master Eragon was in love with you when you met Legolas?", Pippin asked shocked.

"Yes, I am afraid so, and judging by his behaviour he has not quite dealt with it yet", Arya said in a calm voice.

"Should I try to comfort him or would that destroy our master-pupil relationship?", Pippin asked in a low voice.

"I think we should both talk to him, but it might be best tomorrow, so if you meet me at my quarters in the morning, we can go talk to him together", Arya said while looking into Pippin' eyes.

Pippin nodded and went back to his quarters, where he thought about what to say to Eragon the following morning.

Again I will include your name in chapter 19 if you pm me the correct answer to Eragon' "illness", but hurry after chapter 13 there will be no more clues.


	4. Chapter 13 I'm fine

**Arya's POV  
><strong>Arya met Pippin outside her and Legolas' quarters in the morning. The hobbit seemed particular eager to visit his master, but Arya was still unsure of how Eragon would take her visit.

They decided that Eragon was most likely in his study, but when they knocked at the door, no one answered. They decided to cast aside their good manners and enter anyway, but they only found an empty room, besides a desk with a chair, a burnt down candle, which Arya definitely remembered had been brand new only a few days ago, and a small cot, but the cot seemed like it had not been used for several days.

Arya and Pippin decided to ask Mor'Khemir whether he knew where Eragon was, but the black dragon did not, and they could not reach Saphira as she was out hunting. After searching most of Aberon, they heard from Aragorn that he had seen Eragon when he trained at the sparring fields.

The first things they noticed when they spotted Eragon was that he was sparring with Srani with his wooden staff and that his movements had become much more fluid and elflike since yesterday. The second thing Arya noticed was that Eragon had the upper hand in the battle most of the time, despite Srani being maybe the best swordsman in all of Alagaësia.

"Should we interrupt?", Pippin asked as he watched the fight.

"No, let us just give them a moment", Arya answered.

After Eragon had beaten Srani nine more times, and Srani had only won one, Arya noticed that Srani had noticed them and was nodding in their direction while telling Eragon something. Eragon quickly excused himself and walked over to Pippin and Arya.

"Are you feeling alright Eragon ebrithil?", Pippin asked nervously.

"Yes Pippin, I am feeling alright, but why would you ask me such a question?", Eragon answered, and as he and Pippin talked, Arya scanned both his eyes and his body language for anything to suggest otherwise.

"It is just that you have been acting a little strange lately, and two nights ago you said that you were not feeling well", Pippin asked in a voice that clearly gave the impression that he was careful not to insult his master.

"Well Pippin, I am feeling fine now and now that you mention it, what was the question that you needed an answer to that night", Eragon said in a kind voice.

"Oh I had almost forgotten about that", Pippin said, although Arya could clearly see that he was lying, "it is just that a werecat gave me an odd advice that suggested that one of my close friends would die soon, and I wanted to know whether you knew if I should take this seriously".

"Young Pippin, we are about to enter a battle with the world's two largest armies, and you want to know whether or not you should expect someone to die", Eragon said in a stern, but not unkind, voice, "you should always prepare yourself that others may die, but do not grieve for them before they have actually died. Doing so would rip you apart from the inside".

"Yes master", Pippin said, and with a quick bow, walked away, but Arya decided to stay. Arya had studied Eragon under the conversation, but had found nothing wrong with his body language, and although his eyes had regained some of the usual emotions that flowed right through them, they were still a little different from usual. Something Pippin said had caught Arya's attention, as she recalled being in Mandos' hall and entering the deal where the next person to die would be payment for Pippin's life, but Mandos had neither stated who would die or when or from what, so a thought had occurred to Arya. _What if Eragon is fading?_ Arya knew that fading was only common among the Middle Earth elves, but Eragon was not an Alagaësian elf, so he might not apply to that rule.

Arya caught Eragon's arm and looked him intensely in the eyes as she asked him, "Eragon are you fading?"

When Eragon heard her question he just laughed and said to her in the ancient language, "Arya, I have never had the glow that the Middle Earth elves have and therefore I cannot fade".

Arya knew that he could not lie in the ancient language and accepted his answer and left, but as she walked home she pondered what she had seen in his eyes, or rather what she had not seen.

**Nasuada's POV  
><strong>Nasuada had spent her morning and early afternoon discussing what strategies were to be used against the Empire's army with Orrin, Islanzadi, Elrond and Orik. Now her and Orik were walking towards Eragon's study to talk to him and make sure that he was alright.

"So do you want to ask or should I?", Orik asked as they neared the study.

"I believe I should, as he is my vassal, but also because he is my friend", Nasuada answered.

As they reached the door to Eragon's study, they noticed that the door was slightly open, so they decided to walk in unannounced, but when they entered Nasuada saw that Eragon was sitting in his chair by the desk, with both hands holding his wooden staff at his lap and a completely blank face with eyes that showed no sign of activity or that life resided in them.

After standing there for two minutes without Eragon noticing them, Orik coughed to get his attention. As soon as he did Eragon lost his blank expression and life seemed to return to his eyes, but as Nasuada noticed, his eyes were still not the same as just three days ago.

"Hello Orik, my lady, what brings you to my chambers?", Eragon asked with an almost tired voice.

"Eragon, we need to know whether or not you are feeling alright, not just because a large part of the Varden depends on you, but also as your friends", Nasuada said in a concerned voice, while her eyes scanned Eragon for answers.

"It is funny how my mental health seems to be on everyone's mind today, besides you Arya, Pippin, Srani, Angela and even Legolas have asked me the exact same question today", Eragon said while chuckling, but Nasuada could see that the chuckle was a fake one.

"Aye lass, that is because we all care for you, but you are avoiding our question are you sure you are feeling alright?", Orik asked.

"I'm fine, Orik", Eragon simply stated, "as you can see I have convinced all the others, that I am fine so I should not really need to spend an entire evening convincing you two, should I?"

"Alright", Nasuada said, "but get some rest, because we depend on you tomorrow".

"Sure, I will get some rest", Eragon said in a happier voice as he led them out the door, but as he closed it, Nasuada heard him say to himself, "like I won't get plenty of rest after this battle. Perhaps I should enjoy some faelnirv again before the night".

Nasuada was a bit concerned about what he had said, but she knew Eragon well enough to know that he would not get drunk right before a battle, so she decided to follow her own advice and get some rest.

Alright, now I won't give you anymore clues except a small one in chapter 15, so good luck with guessing.


	5. Chapter 14 Starting the battle

**Murtagh's POV  
><strong>Murtagh awoke in his tent, knowing exactly what day it was; it was the day the battle would begin. Murtagh had not slept much in the night as he had considered countless ways of trying to circumvent the orders that he knew he would get in a little while and also to find a way to save Kilendi from being on the front lines, where he would surely get killed.

Kilendi was the easy part; he would just take control of the officer in charge of Kilendi and order him to place Kilendi as a guard at the back of the camp. He would not be defying his orders from the king, seeing as he did not try to sabotage the army by doing so, and he was not the one who changed the king's original orders, the officer was the one who would change it.

Murtagh sat and waited in his tent and when the time came he conquered the officer's mind without even breaking a sweat, then he gave the new orders and wiped the memory from the officer's mind. Murtagh actually found his little defiance of the king quite amusing, but he knew that if discovered, he would not only be punished severely, but Kilendi might also be punished for his actions. The one thing that still bothered Murtagh was that he still had not found a way around the orders that were soon to come, but maybe he would find one when he heard the actual orders.

Murtagh then decided to enjoy a late breakfast, but during his meal he was suddenly startled by a familiar voice, "So I guess I should thank you for placing me at the back gate".

Murtagh turned around to see a smiling Kilendi, but quickly drew him to the ground whispering to his ear, "do not mention that or the king might find out and kill you".

"Mmm", was the only answer Murtagh got as Kilendi took his half eaten breakfast and carried it away.

Later that morning Murtagh found himself in the king's tent receiving his orders;" You [Murtagh's true name] will fight against the Varden and you if you see or hear Eragon, his dragon Saphira, his new apprentice or the black dragon, then you will fight and kill them".

As soon as the king excused Murtagh, he began debating with Thorn how to best circumvent these orders. _It is irritating that he did not say try to kill them, but I guess he learned that lesson from the last time_, Murtagh thought to Thorn. _I know little one, but to every riddle there is an answer and we just have to find it. It will only be a little harder than finding the answer to how to get Kilendi out of the battle_, Thorn said. Murtagh thought about it for half an hour before Thorn suddenly yelled in his mind, his voice filled with a kind of joy and a feeling Murtagh recognized as revenge, _I have found a loophole in the king's orders, but I will not tell you until the time comes when we can exploit it. Otherwise the king might inquire whether you found a different meaning and you would have to tell him_.

Shortly after Thorn having discovered a loophole, the battle began. Murtagh was in the first line of the left flank of the army. He would take his men and cut through the Varden's flank and encircle them afterwards. Murtagh fought on foot with Thorn on his side and everywhere they came, pure terror would seep into the Varden's lines, but for some reason he could not get them to break formation and run. He had neither seen nor heard Eragon or any of the others, and that worried him quite a lot since they would surely have to aid the Varden or else they would be overrun.

The Varden consisted of a blend of men and elves, the very same elves that Murtagh had tried to destroy not long ago in Ellesméra, but this time there would be no escape. Murtagh cut and slashed through the regiment of men before him and yet whenever he made an attack they would simply try and hold him off while withdrawing to a safe ground, but if they did so for much longer he could divide his forces and attack the rest of the army in the rear. Then suddenly a horn was heard and as Murtagh turned around to see what was happening an entire army of elves came running from the side. Murtagh knew instantly that he had just been caught in a trap, but where did these elves come from? They wore different armour than the elves he had fought previously and there should not even be this many elves in Alagaësia? Then it hit him, they were not from Alagaësia. They must have been reinforcements from Middle Earth he concluded.

Leading them was a blue dragon and her rider that Murtagh would recognize anywhere, but just then the king's orders forced him towards the rear of his forces, so that he could kill his brother.

Murtagh tried to regroup his forces, but to no avail as the soldiers from the Varden suddenly charged and his forces were caught between the two attacking forces. While his forces got decimated Murtagh continued towards a small hill where Eragon was killing his men, he meanwhile asked Thorn for the loophole, but the dragon told him it was not time yet.

When Murtagh finally made it to the hill he could see that his forces were either dead, wounded or retreating and the two armies used the total destruction of the left flank of the king's army to attack the rest in the flank, but Murtagh did not bother because all he had to do now was win over his little brother, who had been foolish enough to go into battle wielding only a wooden staff.

"I am sorry brother, but the king has ordered me to kill you and I must follow his orders", Murtagh said and struck the first blow against his brother, but Eragon simply parried his blow with one end of the staff while using the other end to bash him in the ribs. Murtagh then tried several other tactics that had worked in their past fights, but Eragon parried each and everyone like he knew exactly when he would do what.

The fight continued like this for an hour before Murtagh saw a flaw in Eragon's defences, and with a new series of strikes he eventually exposed the flaw, but just when he was about to make the final blow, Eragon somehow changed his stance, so that he would have been vulnerable had Murtagh continued with his original series of strikes, but to his new attack, the stance made him able to not only parry his attack, but also swoop him off his feet, break his sword arm and send Za'roc flying.

_How did he know that I had found a flaw and was going to use it?_, Murtagh thought to himself while lying on the ground and coughing up blood. Then Murtagh felt the king's mind in his with a terrible rage filling it,_ you have failed me Murtagh_, and with that statement Murtagh heard the sound of Shruikan's wings flying towards the hill. As soon as the king landed he jumped off of Shruikan and kicked Murtagh, breaking a few of his ribs. The king then started talking to Eragon. Murtagh could not hear the words, but he knew what was being said, the king would congratulate Eragon on his victory and then try to recruit him with a voice that could make a dwarf stop and consider his suggestion. If Eragon declined, the king would launch an attack on Eragon' body and mind at the same time. Just then Murtagh felt a conscience touch his own, he recognized it as Thorn and let him in. Thorn then simply said, _it is time_, and then sent Murtagh a flash of images and pictures to explain his plan, Murtagh understood the plan perfectly and praised his dragon for being so clever.

I hope you don't think I am evil stopping like this and even without explaining the plan... or do I?


	6. Chapter 15 Down with the king

**Chapter 15: Down with the king**

**Pippin's POV  
><strong>Pippin was fighting bravely at the left flank of the combined Varden and Ellesméra elves army. His orders were clear, he had to keep the left flank from failing while his master would perform the trap on the right flank, then after crushing their flank, Eragon's forces would encircle the middle of the imperial army and crush it. Then if the forces he fought did not surrender, the remainder of the combined armies would completely surround the remaining forces and force them to surrender.

He had been fighting for a little over 2 hours when he heard the signal indicating that the trap had been sprung. Mor'Khemir had unfortunately been injured during the fight and had to return to the camp. This pained Pippin quite a lot, but he knew that Mor'Khemir would survive the injury.

During the 2 hours of fighting, Pippin had noticed the imperial soldiers shift their perception of him. At first they had considered Pippin a small boy and greatly underestimated his sword skills, but as more and more soldiers fell to his sword, he had noticed that they now tried to stay away from him and only fought him when there was no escape.

Suddenly Pippin noticed a huge black dragon fly above the fighting armies. He noticed that the dragon was headed for a small hill whose only inhabitants where two people and two dragons. Pippin instantly recognized Saphira and Thorn and knew that the two people had to be his master and Murtagh, but he could not see who was standing and who was lying on the ground, but Pippin knew that no matter what, his master would need his aid in the fight against Galbatorix so he decided to push through the army in an attempt to reach his master.

Pippin was nearing the middle of the army when Shruikan landed on the hill. He noticed how the king jumped down from his dragon and went over to the figure lying on the ground and kicked him in the ribs, while he afterwards went over to the figure that Pippin now recognized as his master and started talking to him.

As more and more soldiers noticed the two dragon riders on the hill, both sides stopped fighting and looked upon the hill because they knew that whoever won the battle of the hill would win the battle altogether.

As Pippin neared the right flank of the army he saw that Eragon and Galbatorix had started fighting, but it looked to be pretty evenly matched, with both parties neither winning nor losing. Pippin had never seen his master perform such an incredible fight and he realized that had he went up against the black king, he would not have survived 5 seconds against him. Galbatorix looked to be a little faster than Eragon, but Eragon somehow countered this speed with an almost perfect timing of his parries and attacks.

When the king tried hitting his left side, Eragon would not stop his attack, but merely redirect it with one end of the staff, while the other end would be attacking the king's side, but the king was too fast and parried that attack and the battle went on like that for half an hour before Pippin finally reached the hill.

Then just as Pippin reached the hill he heard a terrible roar and he noticed that Murtagh had impaled Shruikan with his sword, while his dragon was biting down on the black dragon's neck. Pippin stood completely frozen in shock and awe.

Galbatorix meanwhile ran towards Murtagh and decapitated him with a single stroke of his sword. The attack was so fast that Pippin wondered whether the elves could have parried that. Then the king turned towards the red dragon lifted his hand towards it and shouted something in the Ancient language.

Pippin gasped in surprise as Thorn shrunk to the size that was proper for its age, but before the dragon could control his body the king reached out and grabbed its jaws with his hands and in a stunning show of strength, the black king ripped the jaws off of Thorn's head.

The king now initiated an amazing series of attacks showing both strength and speed, he had not possessed before his dragon was killed, but Pippin could not aid his master as the fighting between the Varden and its allies and the Empire had erupted in the confusion, and Pippin now faced 5 imperial soldiers.

Pippin quickly dispatched the five soldiers and shouted to his master," I am coming to aid you master", but just as the words left his mouth Eragon got confused for a tenth of a second and missed a blow to his side. Pippin knew the blow would not be fatal, but the king would not doubt kill his master when he was injured, so he quickly scaled the hill in an attempt to reach and defend his master.

Galbatorix noticed the hobbit and laughed at his new opponent, "so you are the new rider I have been hearing about. Do you honestly think that you can prevail where both your master and his masters before him have failed?"

"I will not let you harm my master", Pippin shouted as he engaged the black king in a sword fight, but just as the first blows were struck, he felt an immense entity try and force his way into his mind. Pippin only then realized that the fight he and the rest of the Varden had been watching was only a meant to be a distraction for the other fighter, and that the real battle had been waged in the heads.

Pippin could not match Galbatorix's speed, nor could he match his master's perfect timing and the fight in his head went badly. Galbatorix was quickly winning in both mind and body, but Pippin fought on because he knew that if he failed, the world would suffer for it. The fighting however quickly became too much of a distraction, so Pippin decided to withdraw from the king and focus on the battle of wills, but just as he had withdrawn the king smiled an evil smile, that told Pippin the king had just waited for him to do this. Before Pippin could correct his error the king threw a dagger at Pippin's heart and aimed a blow to Pippin's head, so that he could not escape either.

Pippin knew he was about to die and yet the only thought that crossed his mind was how he had failed the world, but just then his master Eragon jumped in front of Pippin, taking the dagger at the base of the neck and the sword from his right foot to the knee.

Pippin's initial reaction was shock, but an incredible anger quickly followed and Pippin wrested the dagger from Eragon's falling body and jumped towards the king, intending with every single fibre of his body to kill the king with his own dagger. Pippin was so angry that his teeth even started to hurt, but he paid it no mind as he neared the black king and tried so desperately to slash him open with the dagger, but all he got was a minor scratch on the king's chest.

The black king then roared out in pain as Pippin noticed that the area surrounding the slash had begun to dissolve while the poison spread into the blood, and then Pippin realized this would happen to his master as well unless he stopped it. Pippin quickly took his own dagger and headed back to where Eragon's body was lying, but oddly enough, Pippin noticed that there was no pool of blood under him, and as Pippin turned the body he noticed how the poison only had begun to dissolve the tissue adjacent to the original wound.

Pippin quickly carved away the infected tissue from his master, but as he looked back towards the king, Pippin saw something he would never forget. All of Galbatorix's veins were completely black from the poison, and the king slowly and painfully dissolved from the inside out. Pippin heard one last great roar of unimaginable pain from the black king before his body crumbled into a small pile that slowly dissolved.

Pippin only then noticed that Saphira was sprinting towards the imperial lines of soldiers, and with a sea of flames the likes of which Pippin had never seen or would ever see again, she broke through the lines and wrecked havoc upon the imperial soldiers. Her fury was so great that neither the Varden nor the elves would dare pursue the fleeting imperial soldiers, because this would bring them within 500 m. of Saphira. She continued the complete massacre of the imperial soldiers for an hour before she suddenly calmed down and flew towards the hill, where Pippin was mourning his master.

Once there, she picked up Eragon's body, like a cat would pick up its kittens, and grabbed his staff with her claws and flew towards Aberon.

So yeah... I just killed Eragon, anybody got a problem with that?


	7. Chapter 16 Aftermath

Hey absolutely love how on one has a problem with me killing Eragon, to be honest I have wanted to kill him since back when he started to get all emo at Arya and Legolas, and when the Mandos' hall and his vision came, it was too good an opportunity to give up.

**Arya's POV  
><strong>Arya could not believe what she had just seen, Eragon, the first good rider in a century, the rider supposed to bring back the dragon rider order and last but not least her friend, had just died at the hands of Galbatorix. Arya heard an immense war cry from Saphira, who stormed into the Empire's lines with a fury that could not be matched by anything.

Arya felt her own anger and gave out a might roar of her own and stormed towards the imperial soldiers intent on killing every single one of them. She shortly after heard what must have been every elf from Ellesméra give similar cries of war and she could feel the earth shake from the fury of the elves.

Arya paid no mind to how many she and her fellow elves slaughtered, because in their minds there was only one emotion; Anger. She knew somewhere that what she was doing was wrong and if they had asked the soldiers to give up, they would have surely done so, but she could not get herself to forgive these soldiers, even though many of them were forced into service.

Suddenly she noticed Saphira flying to the hill, where Eragon's body lay and picked it up, like a cat picks up her kittens, and flew away. Although the imperial soldiers now actively tried to surrender, most of the elves gave no quarter and slaughtered them anyway. The fighting did not stop until Nasuada herself ordered Pippin, all the elves, Eragon's family and his closest friends away from the battlefield and to go home to Aberon.

**Nasuada's POV  
><strong>Nasuada had felt great sorrow when she witnessed Eragon's death, but as the leader of the Varden, she could not afford to let this cloud her judgement. She had seen it necessary to remove the elves from the battlefield, as they were doing more to keeping the fight going than to make the soldiers surrender. She had even witnessed some of the elves chop off the heads of some soldiers who tried to surrender.

Their fury had struck her and her commanders with awe, she knew the elves could be ruthless at times, but this was a kind of fury she had never seen before, it had only been surpassed by the fury of Saphira.

As soon as the elves left the battle, the imperial soldiers surrendered much more easily and the battle quickly stopped. Nasuada would spend the rest of the day cleaning up the battlefield, reorganizing the Varden, sort out casualty report and deal with other small matters that still demanded her attention. Jörmundur had been extremely helpful during the day, he had really lightened her burden, but as more and more matters kept coming in, the burden only kept growing. In the end her maid Faricia had ordered everyone away and as Nasuada looked out the window she could see the stars on the black sky.

The next day did not go any easier, the dwarven army had finally reached Aberon and Nasuada had had to inform Orik of his foster brothers death; the dwarf did not take the news very well, he had thrown the chair he was sitting on out the window and had spent hours scolding over why he had not pushed his dwarves a little harder, so that they might have been here in time.

In the end he had simply demanded that Eragon should be brought back to Farthen dur for a proper burial as he was part of the Ingeitum clan. This had sparked new conflicts with Roran and the townspeople of Carvahall, who had demanded Eragon's burial in the traditional Carvahall fashion. Nasuada had had to mediate between the two factions until sunset.

The discussion was only closed because no one could reach Eragon's body. Saphira had landed in the courtyard with Eragon's body and had wrapped herself around it like a mother protecting her offspring. When people got into the courtyard she merely growled at them, which led to no one using the courtyard, and if anyone, even the elves or Eragon's friends or family, entered nearer than 20 m. from her, she would send a small flame after them. No one had been foolish enough to get any closer to her than that, but quite a few elves had been burned trying to soothe the mighty dragoness.

**Arya's POV  
><strong>Arya had been lying in her bed with Legolas by her side ever since she was ordered from the battlefield. Legolas had been slowly soothing her all day and it was not until just now that they had decided to try and get some sleep.

Then suddenly a great, but very sad entity had entered her mind. Arya had recognized the entity as Saphira and permitted her access to her mind.

_I know that you all wish to bury Eragon and have been fighting over how to bury him_, Saphira said to Arya.

Arya knew she had to answer tactfully in order to not offend the great dragoness and thereby ruin the only chance of getting her consent to burying Eragon's body, so she answered, _Yes oh great one, there has been many discussions concerning that subject, but know that they do not fight over this subject for themselves, but merely because they all loved Eragon and wish him to have a happy afterlife_.

_Silence, I tire of these pleasantries. Call the other leaders together and I will tell you how to properly bury Eragon's body_, and with that thought, Saphira removed herself from Arya's mind.

Arya quickly jumped off the bed and sprinted towards Nasuada's office, where she told her what the dragoness had told her and together they gathered the rest of the leaders in the courtyard.

None dared to speak in front of Saphira and as the minutes passed by Saphira finally turned her head to where the leaders were standing.

Orik was the first to speak, "Oh great dragoness, we wish to bury Eragon in the dwarven fashion, as he was a part of Dûrgimst Ingeitum and will not find peace unless he is sealed in stone".

This led to Roran stating, "Eragon was my cousin and among my blood he deserves a proper human burial".

This again led to many interjections and soon the courtyard was filled with people discussing how best to bury Eragon's body, but just then Saphira led out a mighty roar and everyone became as silent as the grave.

_Eragon was MY rider and MY partner of soul and heart, I will decide how to bury him_, Saphira said with such intensity that even the people who still had barriers around their mind could hear them.

_He will be burned like a dragon rider should, thereafter his ashes will be sealed in a coffin of stone, as he was a part of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum. Then the coffin of stone will be buried in the traditions of Carvahall_.

Everyone agreed to Saphira's orders, but Arya knew that they did not have a say in the matter. Because as Saphira told them, Eragon had been her rider and no one would dare refuse her.

After this, Saphira said no more and the respective leaders hurried away to prepare for their individual parts of the funeral, and as Arya walked back to her room she felt tired and immediately went to sleep while holding Legolas closely.


	8. Chapter 17 The funeral of Eragon S

**Pippin's POV  
><strong>Pippin was dressed in a white robe, the very same robe that Eragon had worn during his first lessons, although it had been adjusted to fit Pippin by the elves. The elves had since told Pippin that the robe showed Pippin's status as the lead rider.

Everyone else was dressed in black or dark clothes, Pippin had even tried to insist on him doing the same, but the elves had been adamant about signalling to the world that although Eragon was now dead, the order of the riders would live on.

The ceremony had been moved outside of Aberon, and Saphira had let a select few elves move Eragon's body and change his clothes. Eragon now wore a blue robe that matched Saphira's scales, and to Pippin it looked like the robe had been put together from tiny sapphires, as it would constantly catch the light of the sun and change its colour to a great variety of blue colours. The robe had a collar that reached up to Eragon's ears and concealed the wound at the back of his neck.

Eragon's body was laying on a golden stretcher with five sapphires the size of Pippin's fist on the edge of each side. The stretcher had been constructed by the dwarves and Pippin estimated that with it, he could have bought a medium sized city. Eragon's hands were folded on top of his body, and although it was originally intended that Eragon's staff was to follow him to the grave, nobody had found it after the battle. Pippin knew Saphira had taken it, but did not say as he thought she would have a good reason to do so.

Next to Eragon's body was a coffin of the finest white marble Pippin had ever seen. The coffin's lid was on the ground, and Pippin estimated that it would take at least 10 elves to lift the lid from the ground and close to 100 elves to lift the entire coffin, but somehow the dwarves had managed to fabricate and move the coffin from Farthen dur to Aberon in only 2 days, and nobody but the dwarves knew how.

The ceremony was about to begin and even though they had formed a circle 2 km. in diameter, people where still packed pretty closely. Pippin had been elected as the first person to speak first, so he entered the centre of the ring and started speaking. The elves made sure that everyone could hear what the person in the centre said.

"Eragon was not only my master and mentor, but also my friend and one of the only people who could understand exactly what I went through, becoming a rider. Eragon was once a common farm boy in the Spine, but as he became the first free dragon rider in a century, the expectations of him suddenly soured through the roof. He had to learn how to wield a sword, perform magic, dance the dance of politics and all the other responsibilities that come with being a dragon rider. Despite all odds being against him, he not only succeeded in living up to everyone's expectations, he even surpassed them. He devoted himself and his entire life to Alagaësia and has now paid the last price a man can pay, and with his payment we have succeeded in liberating Alagaësia from the tyrant king Galbatorix, and for that we will be eternally grateful."

Pippin then walked back to his spot and he could clearly hear everyone applaud his speech. Saphira then began cremating the body with her blue flames. The heat was so intense that people had to take a few steps back, so that they would not feel the extreme heat. After about 10 minutes Saphira stopped her flames and all that lay on the golden stretcher was a pile of ashes.

Orik then came to the centre and said his final farewell to Eragon, and although his words were touching the applause was not as great as Pippin's had been. When Orik finished his speech, a couple of dwarves with big gloves that insulated their hands from the heat, came and lifted the stretcher with the ashes into the marble coffin. After the stretcher had been carefully lowered into the coffin, many more dwarves came and lifted the lid of the ground and into place on top of the coffin, thereby sealing the coffin so tight that air could not even escape. Pippin noticed that they all bore helmets with the same symbol as Orik's helmet; a hammer surrounded by twelve stars.

Next, Roran came to the centre of the ring and spoke on behalf of the Eragon. Roran spent much of his speech on how Eragon had been in Carvahall and how he even after Saphira had hatched for him had recognized much of the same person that he grew up with. The dwarves then helped lower the coffin into a hole in the ground, with some sort of machinery involving many ropes and hoists. The Carvahall citizens then buried the coffin with all the traditional burial rituals that followed. Pippin found some of the rituals strange, for example on top of the coffin there would be placed the seeds to an apple tree, but he did not know whether this was a special Carvahall tradition or whether it was generally so in Alagaësia.

Next, Nasuada came to speak. Her speech involved the many sacrifices Eragon had been forced to make in his time as her vassal, and how he had been offered command of the Varden numerous times, but he had declined them all with the answer that he was neither wise enough nor had the will to rule.

After Nasuada's speech the elves had elected a representative to speak on their behalf. The speech did not go into much detail about Eragon's character, but merely involved his spectacular life. Pippin thought the elven speech was devoid of emotion, but as he had learned living among the elves, the elves did not show their emotions often.

After the elven representative was done speaking everyone was allowed to speak no matter rank, status or race. Pippin had been astonished by how many people wanted to speak. They ranged from many of his old townspeople to an elf named Vanir, who Eragon had apparently spared with during his time in Ellesméra, and at last an archer who had mistaken Saphira for an enemy, the first time he saw her and therefore had fired arrows at her. Eragon had not been mad at the archers, but merely praised their quick thinking and advised them to take a moment to identify their targets and he had even been generous enough to return the archer's arrow.

It took most of the day for everyone to speak, and when the night came there were a lot of singing, drinking and telling stories of Eragon. Pippin has participated during much of the night, but was now walking alone in a dark corridor, contemplating how Eragon would not have been killed, had he not shouted. Mor'Khemir had tried to sooth Pippin's thoughts, but Pippin had merely shut him off from his mind.

Then suddenly Pippin heard a small boy shout his name across the halls. Pippin was in no mood to be found, but the messenger had already spotted him and ran in his direction.

"Lord Peregrin, your presence has been requested in Lord Eragon's study together with Lady Arya, Roran, Lady Nasuada and Orik".

"Why would they request my presence now?", Pippin asked confused.

"It appears that Lord Eragon has left something behind for you to see", the small boy said and with a quick bow he ran away.

Hope the funeral was okay, did not want to have too many speeches ruining the chapter. Oh and btw I hope this is not incensitive, but  
><span>every time I read the part about the stretcher, I think of it as a kind of ashtray.<span>


	9. Chapter 18 The last will of Eragon s

**Nasuada's POV  
><strong>Nasuada watched as Pippin strode into the room, his face had a questioning look, but his eyes were clearly filled with not only grief, but also a slight hint of shame. Nasuada understood this clearly, for it had been Pippin's shout that made Eragon loose his concentration in the battle, but Pippin had avenged his master's death by slaying Galbatorix.

Nasuada then looked around at the faces of the other assembled; Orik had a stern face, but underneath Nasuada could see he was still grieving for his foster brother, Roran had less success at hiding his emotions and finally Arya was the best at hiding her emotions.

"Now that we are all assembled, I should inform you that a letter was found in Eragon's study soon after his death. It had Eragon's handwriting on the outside, stating that it should only be opened after his funeral and in the presence of those assembled now", Nasuada spoke with as much authority as she could muster.

Nasuada watched as the news spread throughout the room, everyone was now noticeably more interested and far less grieving. She then opened the letter, pulled out the piece of paper and started reading.

"Dear friends and family, as you now know I am no longer among you. I apologize for not saying goodbye in person to each and every one of you, but I feared that you might have tried to stop me from going to the battle and had you done so we might not have killed Galbatorix and thereby won the battle".

At this statement Nasuada stopped reading any further as shock overcame everyone in the room, until Roran spoke.

"How did he know that Galbatorix would die in the battle?"

"Please, Nasuada read on. The letter might provide the answers", Arya stated.

"This next part goes to you my dear pupil Peregrin Took; do not feel guilty for my death as I am sure that you are feeling right now. I know you think that it is your fault that I missed the parry to the side, but you were very brave to confront Galbatorix on your own, even though you could never have defeated him with your limited training. I also do not hope that my death to Galbatorix's dagger and sword will ruin you sleep with nightmares."

Nasuada noticed that Pippin looked like an odd mixture of confusion and acceptance, but kept reading nonetheless.

"I know that you are all probably wondering, how I could possibly know of both Galbatorix's defeat at Pippin's hands and of my own battle with Galbatorix. When we were still back at Ellesméra, I had a premonition of my fight against Galbatorix and its conclusion, I did not however recognize myself until shortly before we entered Mandos' hall. Once there, I made a deal with Mandos; my life for Pippin's life, so my death at Galbatorix's hands was actually just me fulfilling my end of the deal with Mandos."

At this particular information Pippin shouted, "He knew, he knew all along that he would die in the battle and he never told us! Why did he never tell us, we could have prevented it from happening!"

"Because Pippin, he knew that we would have tried to prevent it from happening and he could not let that happen. He knew that his death would not only mean your life, but also Galbatorix's downfall, do you not think he would gladly have given his life time and time again for this outcome", Arya answered in a soothing voice while holding Pippin in a close embrace and gently padding him on the back and rubbing his head.

"Now the time has come to address you Arya", Nasuada continued, "I am sorry for pestering you such in the past and for being angry at your and Legolas' happiness, but know that I lost my anger a while back. Now I am happy for you and I hope you will live long and happy lives together, but I also had another premonition that must come true if this is to be the case. Back before I even met you I had a premonition of you and Legolas leaving Alagaësia in a long white boat with a single sail. I now understand that your true happiness does not reside in Alagaësia, but in Middle Earth and therefore I advice you and Legolas to board the ship when it departs."

Nasuada could see small tears forming in Arya's eyes and her lips silently forming a small thank you.

"This next part goes to you Nasuada, I have watched you as the leader of the Varden, and I believe no one could be better suited to restore peace to the land of Alagaësia. I am sure that you will be a wonderful leader, but you must remember that every leader needs someone to come home to and confide in. I also have a request of you; please look after Roran and Katrina after I am gone.  
>To Roran I leave all my personal belongings except for one thing, that I will state what is and why later. I hope that you and Katrina will live long and happy lives, and I also suggest that you use some of my belongings to build a castle on that hilltop we used to play on as children. Know that you are as a brother to me and my only regret is that I won't be able to help you raise your children and protect and help you in your life, but I have done all that I can for now."<p>

Nasuada could see Roran was startled by the news and that he tried very hard to keep the tears from flowing, but did not succeed.

"Orik my foster brother, you were one of the best friends, I have ever had and I was proud to be in your clan. I hope that now when I am gone, the Az Sweldn rak Anhûin will not bother our clan further and that in time they will come to accept the dragon riders."

To this Orik stated harshly, "I would rather have waged a clan war with them than loose you my foster brother".

"Pippin I know that your training is not complete, but the elves will train you in swordplay and magic, but in order for you to become the new leader of the riders, you must learn the secrets of the riders. Since I am no longer among you, I have imprinted them on my staff, which I am sure Saphira has kept guarded without mercy. In order for her to relinquish the staff to you, you must speak the following statement in the ancient language; Saphira I have read the will and have come to learn the last secrets, I will not keep the staff and I will return it to you when I am done."

Nasuada stopped reading and noticed that everyone was staring at Pippin. He merely looked into the ground and then with a small nod said, "I will restore the dragon riders to their former glory for you my master".

Nasuada thought there was no more, but Arya pointed out that there was a little more on the back and so she turned the paper and started reading again.

"You know it is actually quite funny how Angela's prophecy has finally come full circle. For you that do not know already, Angela predicted my future in Teirm and it went like this:  
><em>This is the first time I have ever seen it come up in someone's future. Most of the time it's the aspen or the elm, both signs that a person will live a normal span of years. Whether this means that you will live forever or that you will only have an extraordinarily long life, I'm not sure. Whatever it foretells, you may be sure that many years lie ahead of you. Now the bones grow harder to read, as the rest are in a confused pile. Here the wandering path, lightning bolt, and sailing ship all lie together - a pattern I've never seen, only heard of. The wandering path shows that there are many choices in your future, some of which you face even now. I see great battles raging around you, some of them fought for your sake. I see the mighty powers of this land struggling to control your will and destiny. Countless possible futures await you - all of them filled with blood and conflict - but only one will bring you happiness and peace. Beware of losing your way, for you are one of the few who are truly free to choose their own fate. That freedom is a gift, but it is also a responsibility more binding than chains. And yet, as if to counteract that, here is the lightning bolt. It is a terrible omen. There is a doom upon you, but of what sort I know not. Part of it lies in a <em>_death__ - one that rapidly approaches and will cause you much grief. But the rest awaits in a great journey. Look closely at this bone. You can see how its end rests on that of the sailing ship. That is impossible to misunderstand. Your fate will be to leave this land forever. Where you will end up I know not but you will never again stand in Alagaësia. This is inescapable. It will come to pass even if you try to avoid it._ _Now for the last two bones, the tree and the hawthorn root, which crosses each other strongly. I wish that this were not so - it can only mean more trouble - but betrayal is clear. __And it will come from within your family!_

She was right in the fact that I will live a long life and that I would leave Alagaësia forever, I just did not see at the time that this meant I would live in the hall of Mandos and with this final statement I say farewell to you".

So good last will or not? Guess you never anticipated that he knew he was about to die in the battle. Btw before anyone mention it, I know I do not have the full prophecy included, but hey why would he write about the love part when he was trying to calm everyone. That part would only have brought misfortune to Arya, so he would ofc not write it into his last will. 


	10. Chapter 19 The last secrets of the rider

**Pippin's POV  
><strong>Pippin was walking towards the courtyard, where Saphira was residing. He had just finished hearing his master's last will and was still pretty shocked about what it had said. As he approached the courtyard, he started walking more slowly and nervousness crept into him.

_Do not worry Pippin, Saphira will not blame you for Eragon's death. She would certainly have known of the events, so she and Eragon must have prepared for them_, Mor'Khemir said in Pippin's mind. His words comforted Pippin and he sent a thank you back across their link.

When Pippin reached Saphira he approached her slowly with his head bowed down and when he reached 15 m. from her, he sat down on his knees. _Master Saphira, I am terrible sorry for your loss_, he then thought to her in the ancient language, _Saphira I have read the will and have come to learn the last secrets, I will not keep the staff and I will return it to you when I am done_.

When she heard this Saphira reached out towards Pippin with one of her paws and opened it in front of him. There in her paw, Pippin saw the staff that his master had been carrying for so long, but now that he could watch it closely, Pippin noticed that there were intricate symbols on the staff. Pippin recognized the symbols as the elven writing and although he could not understand them fully, he understood enough to know that the writing described an elf called Linnëa's life history.

Pippin was puzzled by this, Eragon's will had stated that it was the secrets of the dragon riders, that he needed to know and not some elf girl's history. _Well Mor'Khemir, perhaps master Eragon has hidden the secrets within the story, we should study it more closely_, Pippin thought to Mor'Khemir, but just as he reached out and touched the staff something incredibly strange happened.

Pippin suddenly felt a foreign conscience in his mind, it was a conscience he both found completely alien and yet somehow familiar. The conscience had a soft melody running through it like an elf, but at the same time Pippin could feel both masculine and feminine traits in the conscience.

Pippin remembered his training and although the melody drew him to it, he kept his distance and shot up his walls. Then suddenly a force swept from the conscience and completely blew his walls apart, but instead of trying to take control over his mind the conscience merely calmed him down.

The conscience then spoke in a voice which Pippin both recognized, but also found to different than he had heard it before, the voice belonged to his master Eragon.

_Calm down Pippin, you are not under attack_, Eragon's strange voice spoke, but before it could say anything else, Pippin had already sent out a mental cry to Arya, Gandalf, Legolas and Nasuada, _Eragon is alive! Come quickly to the courtyard!_

As he sent out his mental cry, Pippin also dropped the staff in pure shock over the sudden turn of events.

_Pippin would you please pick up the staff, it is much easier to communicate when you are actually holding it_, Eragon's strange new voice said in a slightly weaker tone.

Pippin immediately picked up the staff and asked the first question that came to his mind, _Is it really you master and why do you sound so different?_

_I cannot answer that in a simple yes or no Pippin, because the answer is not that simple_, Eragon's voice said, _I suppose I should start at the beginning for you to understand completely. Please sit down and do not interrupt_.

_Yes master_, Pippin said as he sat down.

_I obtained this staff from the Menoa tree back in Ellesméra, just before you teleported us away. As I discovered the moment I laid my hands on it, the conscience of the elf woman Linnëa was trapped inside the staff. As more time went on and I talked more to Linnëa, I started to share some of my problems and joys with her, and it was not long after that our consciences were almost as closely related as mine and Saphira's. I would spend many nights and days trying to release Linnëa from the staff, but they all failed and so on the night of the party with the elves from Middle Earth I decided to –_

At this moment Gandalf, Arya, Legolas and Nasuada busted into the courtyard and interrupted what Eragon would have said. They all looked at Pippin with great concern as he was sitting on the ground with blank eyes and Eragon's staff in his hands.

"Pippin, what is going on how can Eragon be alive and where is he?", Arya immediately said while she shook his shoulders, but as she did so, she noticed that the staff had the name Linnëa written upon it.

Pippin's eyes became clear and he was clearly surprised to find the people standing around him, "he is in the staff and yet he is not, it is quite confusing and he was just about to explain it to me".

"No that can't be, this is Linnëa's staff, she should be the one in there. Perhaps she is merely toying with you", Arya said and reached out with her mind towards the staff.

Because Pippin was still connected to the staff, he could feel her presence and hear her thoughts through the staff.

A feminine voice, but with a slight manly hint to it then spoke, _greetings Arya, you are correct in assuming that this is my staff and it contains my conscience_.

Pippin then spoke confused, _wait what happened to Eragon? Where is he? Was it just you all along?_

_I talked all along Pippin_, Linnëa's voice said, but just then Eragon's voice cut in, _Oh Linnëa, stop toying with their heads, they will just find it so much more difficult to understand later_.

Linnëa's voice then spoke again, _you know I would not have continued for long. Besides you can't deny that you thought it a bit funny too_.

Pippin could see Arya recoil and then he heard her thoughts, which sounded a little bit angry, _who exactly is in this staff? Stop trying to confuse us._

_Well I, or we if you will, was trying to explain that to Pippin before you barged in on us_, the entity now said in a voice that was an odd combination of Eragon's voice and Linnëa's.

Pippin quickly summarized what had happened so far to the rest of the group, and when he was done Gandalf, Legolas and Nasuada took their leave.

_Well, as I was about to say_, Eragon's voice now spoke, _the night of the party with the Middle Earth elves, I tried for the last time to free Linnëa from the staff, but as always it failed. Linnëa then suggested an alternative to freeing her from the staff. The alternative was that I joined her in the staff, but she said I would need to think very carefully about it, as it was probably permanent. I decided to join her that night, but as I came to discover after the joining, my body was not exactly easy to control from within the staff. I spent the whole night, the day after and the night after that practising to control my body. I had only just managed to control it to an extent at your wedding Arya, and it was therefore I might have seemed a bit stiff and clumsy._

Pippin then cut into the tale, _master I might be able to bring you both out, would you like me to try?_

_No we are quite fine in here_, the combined voices said, _besides even if you could get us out why would we? The outside world has many distractions and we would not always be able to be with each other out there, besides Eragon still has a debt to be paid._

_But the debt to Mandos was paid by your death master_, Pippin interjected

_No, the body death was only half the payment, now I must pay the rest and go to Mandos' hall_, Eragon said.

Eragon's voice then spoke to Arya, _Arya I know you are probably confused about what to do right now, but please do not seek out Roran or Orik and tell them of my presence. Knowing this would only make it so much harder for them to accept that I am truly gone, because no matter what, I will never return to Alagaësia or talk to them again. As a matter of fact I never intended for anyone but Pippin and Saphira to know, but now you must leave us as I have to give the secrets of the riders to Pippin._

__I will not tell them if you don't wish them to know, goodbye_ Eragon, may you rest in peace_, Arya said with a sad voice as she left.

_Goodbye Arya, we will never forget you_, the combined voiced of Eragon and Linnëa spoke.

As Pippin walked back towards his room, after Eragon had shared the secrets with him, he came upon Angela.

"So how are the two love birds doing?", she asked in an amused voice.

"How do you know, has Gandalf told you?", Pippin asked confused, because he had made sure everyone who had been present had sworn in the ancient language, that they would not tell anyone.

"No, but I have my sources", Angela said as she chuckled to herself and walked away leaving Pippin only more confused.

SURPRISE! Oh and nobody guessed it, although booklover1498 was the only one who actually guessed, oh and btw booklover1498 I never did say his was dead,  
><span>I merely stated what I had done to him so far, so I was not lying in the mails ;)<span>  
><span>You did not honestly believe I would just kill Eragon off and throw the whole Linnëa staff thing and so on<span>  
><span>out of the window did you?<span>


	11. Chapter 20 Epilogue

**Pippin's POV**  
>It had been 500 years since the war against Galbatorix, and Pippin was standing on the mountains of the Spine. He thought back to the war and all it had cost him and all he had won.<p>

Saphira had mated with Mor'Khemir shortly after the last battle and had laid a bunch of eggs. She had since disappeared from the world of Alagaësia and the last time Pippin had heard anything of her was when she was spotted at the grey havens in Middle Earth nearly 500 years ago. The elves there had reported her going west towards the land of the Valar, and no one had ever seen her since.

_Do you think Eragon would be proud of us Mor'Khemir?_, Pippin thought to his eternal companion.

_I believe both he and Saphira would have been most proud of us. We have not only restored the dragon riders of Alagaësia, but also set up a new division of dragon riders in Middle Earth_, his dragon answered.

_I just wish that a dragon had hatched for Merry, it was terrible to watch him slowly age and die_, Pippin said, thinking back to how Merry had elected to stay in Alagaësia and help Pippin with the riders.

_Merry lived a long and happy life, he now rests in peace and so should your memory of him_, Mor'Khemir answered.

_Do you think Eragon would have approved of me writing his entire story into the history?_, Pippin asked as he remembered how he had waited for Roran and Orik to die before adding the chapters about Linnëa.

_I do not know, but his wishes were only that Roran, Orik and his other friends should not suffer from the news and they have not. Besides, it is a story worth remembering_, Mor'Khemir said, knowing that Pippin had been thinking about this many times before.

Eragon's story had since its release been the favourite tale of Alagaësia, and ever since Pippin had added the secret part about Linnëa; people had embraced it even further.

_Do not dwell on these subjects my rider, we have an audience with queen Arya and king Legolas in Middle Earth in two weeks and we can't be late_, Mor'Khemir said, to move Pippin's thoughts away from the depressing subject.

_You are right Mor'Khemir and perhaps we might run into Angela and Gandalf while we are in Middle Earth_, Pippin said, looking forward to seeing Arya and Legolas' children and perhaps meeting the two istari again.

Pippin's thoughts again circled back to his old master and how Gandalf had told him a couple of hundred of years ago, that he had heard from Mandos that Eragon/Linnëa and Saphira was now welcoming newly deceased immortals to Mandos' hall, but from what Gandalf had heard, Eragon had refused the offer Mandos had made him. The offer was, that as a reward for his services to Alagaësia and his sacrifice, Mandos would let Eragon take human form and wander the lands of the Valar like a free living being, but the offer only extended to Eragon, so Eragon had then declined the offer on the grounds that Linnëa would not be able to join him.

_Perhaps we will meet them again someday_, Pippin thought.

_Perhaps, but right now is not the time for us to depart the world of the living_, Mor'Khemir thought back, as he took off from the ground with Pippin on his back and flew west.

So did I do an alright job ending the fellowship of the egg trilogy?  
><span>Btw something I have been wondering while reading some stories here, some author say "please no flames"<span>  
><span>what does that mean? Is it metaphorical for criticism or an actual option from the viewers point to give flames<span>  
><span>to a story? Anyway I know if my story ever get flames I will use them to melt marsh mellows on, that is how<span>  
><span>much I care about people who would criticize my story right now.<span>

On a much brighter note, I have just received word from Estrid2006, that he/she is intending to finish The return of the riders this summer, so watch out for that.


End file.
